Effingham Commissioners force administrator to resign at called meeting
David Rutherford is leaving after four years in Effingham County.

SPRINGFIELD - Effingham County Administrator David Rutherford was asked to resign Tuesday after more than four tumultuous years as a key figure in local government.

County Commissioners accepted Rutherford's resignation after a 45-minute closed personnel meeting, then read a letter of recommendation commending his work for Effingham.

Chairman Hubert Sapp cast the only vote against Rutherford's resignation. Sapp stepped down as chairman at the beginning of the meeting, yielding to Vice Chairman Verna Phillips. During and after the meeting, Sapp complained that some commissioners previously discussed the matter and scheduled Tuesday's special meeting before informing him.

"I felt Mr. Rutherford was doing a good job overall and I did not agree with the way the other commissioners handled the whole thing," said Sapp.

Commissioners Phillips, Reggie Loper, Myra Lewis and Jeff Utley declined to comment. Rutherford left the County Administrative Complex before commissioners accepted his resignation. Rutherford did not respond to a reporter's request for comment left on a recording at his residence.

Rutherford became county administrator in March 2001 with 20 years experience in mostly planning positions at state and local governmental agencies. He had been Port Wentworth's city administrator for nearly two years before accepting the Effingham post. The new job boosted his annual salary to $90,000 - about $24,000 more than he was making at the west Chatham County municipality. Since then, Rutherford's salary increased to $125,000.

Sapp was the only commissioner to comment about the events leading up to Rutherford's forced resignation.

"Some people have been mumbling complaints for a while and it eventually led to this," Sapp said minutes after the meeting.

Sapp confirmed that a recent incident involving Rutherford and Planning Director David Crawley prompted discussions last week by other commissioners, who called for Tuesday's special meeting. That incident, at the administrative complex, was observed by multiple county employees but Sapp would not elaborate.

"He was asked to resign or be fired," said Sapp.

The chairman noted that the other commissioners seemed to have the issue decided before Tuesday's specially called meeting.

"I'm not saying they all got together, or a quorum met," said Sapp. "They may have discussed it separately but I was not a participant."

Past and current commissioners have praised Rutherford's efforts to expand services and infrastructure in a quickly growing county with limited finances. Among the projects opposed by some residents is a multi-million dollar water-sewer project across a rapidly growing section of Effingham.

Sapp said a search for a new administrator will probably start soon. He said the selection process may take several months.

Effingham Elected Officials Association held a previously scheduled meeting at the administrative complex at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Phillips told officials Rutherford had resigned and that employees at the complex will assist them until a new administrator is hired.

During that employee meeting, Phillips cautioned county workers about talking to media representatives about Rutherford. She ended her comments when questioned by a reporter.

Millions of dollars down the drain. Billion gallons of water wasted flushing water lines. Effingham Taxpayers are going to be paying for this water and sewer mess for years with money out of the General fund. I wonder if some of the ring leaders who supported this mess have trouble sleeping at night.

Over a Million of dollars wasted paying
Savannah for flushing water on an underutilized water line. It continues today and paid for with money transferred out of the General fund.http://savannahnow.com/stories/112905/3457639.